Paleo and Running: what has it done for me?

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you stop to look fear in the face."

                                          --Eleanor Roosevelt

My 6th half marathon was the Silver Strand Half marathon.  It was also my second half marathon that I've run paleo.  I've been asked what being Paleo has done for my running.  I initially chose to start paleo for weight loss and to help with recovery.  I had heard that there were elite runners, like Dean Karnazes, who also run Paleo.  So for more than 90 days now, I've followed the restrictions of the Paleo diet: No soy, dairy, legumes, processed grains or sugars or oils.  And I have seen a difference.  

My legs felt incredibly strong on race day.  I had also included hillwork in the last 3 weeks (after half marathon 5, the San Jose Rock N Roll) so I'm sure that training helped build muscle in my legs.  I attribute the quick recovery and increase muscle growth to paleo though.  Its difficult to NOT be high protein on a diet based on fat burning.  

The high fiber, high water content that comes with eating a diet of whole foods, ensured that I was also well-hydrated on race day.  Dehydration can be such a huge factor in race day performance.

Knowing that my diet was well-balanced and HEALTHY led to a confidence that makes the biggest difference.  I didn't wonder if what I had eaten in the days before would lead to GI distress on race day.  Poor diet mixed with nerves can be a terrible combination when you're trying to run your best race.  You don't want to be stopping at every single port-a-potty on the course.  The paleo diet purposely eliminates all foods that can cause irritation and bloating.

Today is the second day after the race and I feel great.  I do have muscle soreness, but my legs feel STRONG.  This is in direct opposition to the halfs that I've run where my muscles are literally DYING because they were consumed in the effort.

I hope that my experience allows anyone who is considering to run paleo to feel confident that others have had positive experiences.

How I stayed paleo on a busy weekend

Anyone else surrounded by candy and Halloween treats?  Man, do I want a Twix right now.  But I'm gonna stay strong, although I promised myself a mini-binge ON Halloween.  After all, who else is going to eat the Almond Joys and Mounds bars that my kids hate?  (Hey, Coconut, almonds and chocolate are paleo)

This was the last weekend before Halloween, so of course it was crammed full of parties and events. On Saturday, my 11 year old and I ran the Spooktacular 5k.  We were the cute mommy/son pair dressed as Superman and Super girl.  This was the inaugural race and I hope they run it every year.  Lake Murray is am awesome location, with gentle rolling hills that provide a challenge for those who make 5ks their preferred distance.  The medals and bibs were adorable.  There was such a great turnout of costumed runners too!  A decent sized vendor fair, with 2 races and a few local businesses represented.  I'll definitely run this again.

We followed up the race with a Halloween party for military families at the Harley-Davidson of San Diego.  Put on by the USO, they offered BBQ, games and trick-or-treating.  I knew that BBQ meant hot dogs or hamburgers, probably chips or beans too.  So with mine and my son's special dietary needs, we just bypassed the "free" lunch and I let the boy choose McDonald's for his awesome effort at the 5k.  I find that being paleo, I have to skip meals at events often.  I have had luck calling ahead and asking for a special meal.  But only when its an event that I've had to pay for my dinner.  I've also found that being paleo, places like McDonalds are NOT a fun option.  Even their healthiest options, the salads and wraps, contain CHEESE and LEGUMES.  So I have to be prepared to do some doctoring.  I order the bacon ranch salad with grilled chicken.  I have to painstakingly remove ALL the cheese from the salad.  If I'm lucky, the preparer has clumped it all together.  Ironically, this is something I HATED before I was paleo.  Then, I make sure to bring an avocado with me and instead of dressing, I cut up my avocado and add it to my salad.  I like to mash it with a bit of salt.  Yes, it takes me forever to start eating, but I'm MUCH happier with my lunch this way.

We got a short respite from Halloween events and during that time I ate an early dinner.  I tried the Coconut Chicken Curry from Fitzee Foods and coupled it with some Coconut Paleo bread from Julian Bakery.  It's nice to have some pre-made meals that are ready when I'm hungry on busy days like that.  We would shortly head off to an elementary school Halloween Carnival where my family would indulge in pizza, nachos, pretzels, popcorn and soda.  I was able to resist temptation by eating ahead of time.

I made sure to hydrate throughout that busy saturday because the next morning I got up to run a distance runs on hills.  I am committed to besting my PR of 2:48:24 at my next half marathon.  That means hill workouts!  I did 10 miles at a 15 min pace.  Slow, yes, but man did my hip flexors get a workout!  That means that my run did exactly what I wanted it to do.  I did get to refuel with a carne asada burrito, but the only non-paleo thing in it was the tortilla itself.

Paleo on a busy family weekend is completely possible.  You just need to pre-plan, have meals ready to go and be flexible when you're dining out.

Run Recovery

After my first Hill Work session, I was inspired to write a post about stretching.  I wanted to throw up a bunch of stats about how many people don't stretch and how they injure themselves more often.  Imagine my surprise when my Googling brought up articles about studies that show stretching may be useless.  

However, from Runner's World: "Few running practices are as hallowed as stretching. And none have been debated as much in recent years. Studies have failed to reliably show that the addition of stretching to a warmup before activity reduces overuse injuries. "The jury's been out on stretching for about a decade," says Michael Ryan, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "And as far as I can tell, it hasn't come in yet." Yet few experts in the field are ready to abandon stretching. The reasoning: Runners are tight in predictable areas, they get injured in and around these areas, and therefore they should increase flexibility in these areas. The muscle groups at the back of the legs—the hamstrings and calf muscles—stand atop most lists of "best muscles for runners to stretch." Hamstring and hip-flexor flexibility seems to improve knee function (several reports link poor hamstring and hip-flexor flexibility with "larger knee joint loads"), and calf flexibility may keep the Achilles tendon and plantar fascia healthy."

I am a faithful stretcher, due to the work I did with a Personal Trainer for years.  My favorite stretches include:

Calf Stretch
Photo found at Mayo Clinic

Hip Flexor Stretch
Photo found at Mayo Clinic

My favorite Hamstring stretch
Photo found at Runners World

Sometimes regular stretching doesn't quite relieve you of the stiffness and muscle knots that can come with endurance training.  That's when you need every runner's Best Friend: a foam roller.

  

Foam rollers are high density foam cylinders 6" in diameter.  You use your own body weight to massage out the knots in your hard worked muscles.  Its a good alternative to weekly massage therapy visits, saving you tons of money, and it can be done while you watch tv.  Easy AND inexpensive!  Sorry for the Cheesy Video from Diet.com, but foam rolling is best taught through example.  

When regular stretching and foam roller use isn't enough to keep up with your training, you can use Sports Massage to help rid your body of lactic acid build up and to help your muscles recover faster.  I'll be trying massage therapy for the first time soon.  I'll make sure to post all about it and let you guys know if I survive.

You're crazy if you like hillwork

I love a flat course just as much as I love breaking a Personal Record.  And usually they go hand-in-hand.  But I've hit a speed bump in my pace.  I'm slow, and probably always will be.  I'm asian, our people aren't known for breaking world records in the running community.  But I want to get faster.  I've trained for endurance the last 6 months, and I've changed my diet to help with recovery.  Now it's time to face the fact that without speedwork, I'm not going to get any PRs anytime soon.  And as Legendary Runner Frank Shorter once said, "Hills are Speedwork in Disguise".

I've never focused on getting faster, just finishing.  It was enough to cross that finish line and get my medal.  I did earn some PRs along the way, but I want to beat my current PR of 2:48 earned at the Inaugural San Diego Half Marathon in 2012.  So adding hillwork is new to me, and I've had to do a bit of research.

Two great articles on hillwork can be found at:

• Active.com : Speedwork in Disguise.  To paraphrase a portion of the article, speed doesn't come from the foot pushing off the ground.  It comes from the ability to bring the opposite leg forward FASTER.  Hillwork is resistance training and makes the hip flexors STRONGER and able to react FASTER.  
• Running Times Magazine: Hit the Hills.  Besides having great descriptions of different types of hill workouts, this article addresses an additional benefit of hillwork: Improved form.  Running hills will tire you out and mimic the fatigue that comes with the end of a race.  If you practice maintaining proper running form during these workouts, you're working towards running injury free, running faster and having a GREAT finish line photo.

As for my race training, I plan to add Hill Sprints at the end of one of my weekly short runs and my distance runs will be Hilly Up-Tempo Runs.  I'm not looking forward to the WORK but I am looking forward to the RESULTS.